Project 70(I) - Pre-judgment interests

In May 1981 the Attorney General asked the Commission to furnish a priority report on pre-judgment interest. For this reason the reference was divided into two parts: Part I dealing with pre-judgment interest and Part II dealing with subsidiary matters.

Terms of Reference

In 1977 the Commission was asked to consider whether the law and practice relating to interest on judgments was adequate or whether it was in need of reform.

Outcomes

Excepting the recommendation concerning judgments obtained in default, all of the Commission’s recommendations were implemented by the Supreme Court Amendment Act 1982 (WA). The Hansard report indicated that the Parliament believed that pre-judgment interest would be recoverable for judgments obtained in default however this was not expressly provided for in the Act. In its Annual Report for the year 1981-1982, the Commission reported that implementation of this outstanding recommendation would now appear unnecessary as recent case law suggested that pre-judgment interest was already recoverable in cases of default judgments under statutory provisions similar to those suggested by the Commission.